Author's Notes:

Thank you Regreme as always for your help in editing this chapter and making sure it doesn't read like a bag of ass. Also, thanks for helping me get through that bit of writer's block I had in the middle of this chapter.

Hope you all enjoy the read, and please feel free to leave some feedback. Because in the immortal words of Denzel Washington

It's the only way to further your skills.

Sam would have liked nothing more than to go back to sleep. It may have been well past sunrise, and past any decent hour any normal person would have woken up. Yet, all the sleep-deprived conduit could do was become more annoyed by the insistent knocking coming from his suite’s door. He knew exactly who it was, but that only gave him less of a reason to even answer it.

“Alright, already!” Sam finally threw the covers off himself with a huff, “Just stop banging on the fucking door!”

The groggy conduit shuffled his way to the now silent door while also picking up his clothes from the floor to wear. He didn’t care if it was yesterday’s outfit. One good sniff let him know that they were still wearable. Sam had just finished dressing by the time he reached the door and took a long, deep breath in an attempt to put off the inevitable. As he released his breath, he opened the door to reveal a very perky and bright-eyed unicorn by the name of Twilight Sparkle. Sam gave her the most unamused frown he could muster.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up, Sam,” Twilight’s cheery demeanor continued as she talked, almost completely ignoring Sam’s mood, “I just couldn’t wait to get started with today! Although, is it normal for humans to sleep in past sunrise?” From the unicorn’s saddlebags, a sheaf of parchment and quill emerged to dictate her new thoughts. A habit that Sam was growing to be not so fond of. “Does this mean that your kind is nocturnal, or do they just have a different sleep cycle than ponies?”

“Listen, Sprinkle,” Sam grumbled, “Can this wait until ‘after’ breakfast?”

Twilight sighed at the dismissal of her study, but put away her things, “I guess… Plus, my name is Twilight ‘Sparkle’. It’s alright though. Just try to remember later on. After all, we’ve got an entire day to work together.”

The purple unicorn led the way out the hallway with a spring in her step. Sam just sagged and grumbled as he was forced to follow. Whether the brainiac of a pony understood it or not, Sam was not exactly as enthused as the purple wonder herself. However, he did promise a certain princess that he would try to play nice. As the purple unicorn rambled on about her schedule for the day, Sam thought back to the day before. Where he was first introduced to Miss Twilight ‘Sprinkle’.

--o0o--

“Hello, and welcome to Twilight Sparkle! My name is Equestria!”

Sam was stunned by this purple whirlwind of over enthusiasm. It took him a moment to really pick up on what this pony was actually trying to say. Apparently, so did the purple unicorn as her overly happy expression shifted to one of sheer embarrassment. It was actually pretty amusing as Sam watched the little pony prance in place as she tried to get more words to come out of her mouth. Luckily for her, Sunny was there to salvage what was left of the train wreck of an intro.

“Twilight, my most faithful student,” Princess Celestia sat up from her seat, “Your timing couldn’t have been better.”

It seemed the princess’s words had a calming effect on the frazzled unicorn, as she soon straightened out herself and her mane to a more presentable state. After her little episode was over, much to Sam’s disappointment, she finally looked confident enough to speak again.

“Thank you, princess.” Twilight’s eyes wandered from her mentor to the only other thing in the room with enough interest to give her whip lash with a double take. Sam.

“I, um. It. Is. An. Honor. To. Meet. You.” Twilight drew out her words as she fully addressed the human-conduit.

Sam frowned. The cheeky little pony thought he was dumb or something. He had an idea to fix this.

Sam got up from his seat. “Hello. I. Am. Sam.” He slowly drew out his own words and ended with a smile.

The little unicorn clopped her hooves together and squeed in delight. She even lit up her horn to draw out a piece of parchment and quill from the bags she wore.

“Fascinating! It understood me!” Twilight cheered and wrote something upon the open parchment.

At this, Sam frowned even more. The princess knew a situation when she saw one and swiftly gained her apprentice's attention.

“Twilight. This human’s name is Samuel, or Sam as he prefers. You should also be aware that he does speak fluent equish.”

Twilight dropped her parchment and quill and looked back up at the human, to which Sam’s reaction was to wave and smile deviously.

“I’m also fluent in witty remarks, but that’s just more of a hobby.”

Twilight flushed with embarrassment. Her attempt to show respect as one of the first equestrian’s and communicate with an alien was slowly coming apart. However, she would not let this deter her for long.

“I-I’m sorry. I just assumed with coming from a different world, so too would the language.”

‘That isn’t the only thing you were assuming,’ Sam thought to himself.

Twilight refocused her efforts and tried to appear a little more composed as she spoke, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to try and reintroduce myself.” She took a deep breath in preparation. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’d like to be one of the first Equestrians to welcome you to Equestria.”

“People call me Sam,” Sam simply stated, “Also, hate to burst your bubble, but I’ve already met with the welcoming committee, courtesy of the illustrious royal guard. Although, they could use some work on their hospitality.”

Sam’s remark left the purple unicorn confused, while Celestia subtly ruffled her feathers. One of the few times that the princess has shown outward embarrassment.

“I- well, I hope that I can leave a better impression on you,” Twilight said as she reached out with a hoof.

Sam wasn’t entirely sure if this was supposed to be an offer to shake her hoof. He’s never seen any of the ponies in the castle use this gesture. The question of how a society of intelligent horses could build anything without opposable thumbs, disregarding the magic part, crept back into Sam’s mind. Hooves were just not the ideal appendage for that type of thing. Perhaps he would ask this question later on, or completely forget about in the next ten minutes. Either way, Sam had to make the decision on how to go about shaking the unicorn’s outstretched hoof. Sam shrugged in the end. It’s not like he cared if he embarrassed himself, so he took the unicorn’s hoof in his hand and gave it a light shake.

Twilight gasped as Sam grasped her extended hoof, a reassurance that her greeting was a success. It was an odd feeling to have her hoof encompassed by this human’s ‘claws’ however. The appendage was nearly furless, save for the short hairs that dotted its forelegs. The only portion of its body that seemed to have any large volume of hair was its mane. Twilight would have to add a few more questions on human physiology to her list to ask Sam during her research sessions. With her introduction completed, Twilight’s expression lit up with more excitement. It was almost time. She would be one of the first ponies to fully interact with an extraterrestrial species. Just thinking about it gave her the jitters as thoughts of the prestige she would receive within the scientific community flooded her mind.

“You alright there?” Sam asked as he noted the pony’s near explosive excitement.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just so excited!” Twilight pranced again, “I never thought I’d ever get to meet an alien before, let alone study one.”

Sam looked confused by Twilight’s remarks and just a tad bit slighted, “Excuse me?”

“I mean, think of the possibilities!” Twilight exclaimed, “A whole new field of xenobiology, a brand new branch to add to cultural diversity, not to mention the wealth of information you must have on your people’s exploits!”

Twilight kept rambling on, completely oblivious to the slowly growing agitation that Sam was developing. Luckily, Celestia was not quite as oblivious to Sam’s distress and stepped in.

“Twilight, before you begin your task with Sam, why don’t you make preparations for it to begin tomorrow?”

Twilight’s lengthy monologue was cut short upon hearing this, “But princess! This is practically a dream come true! I’m certain that I will be able to learn everything this human has to offer if the sooner I get started.”

A faint frown crossed Princess Celestia’s face, “Of that, I have no doubts, but you will need the necessary equipment and adequate room to even begin, no?”

Twilight pondered this for a moment, “Of course, your majesty. I think my old lab in the east wing will do, but you are right. I need to have it prepared.” The little unicorn was practically quivering with anticipation. “I’m sorry we can’t begin today, Samuel was it? However, I promise you, tomorrow will be exciting for the both of us.”

Sam crossed his arms and mustered every last ounce of sarcasm in his body, “Can’t freakin’ wait. Also, it’s just ‘Sam’.”

Sam watched as ‘Twiggy McSprinkles’ completely ignored his remark and bowed to the princess before all but running out the door to begin her ‘preparations’. This left a very disgruntled conduit to glare at an equally nervous princess.

“You must forgive my student, Sam. She is merely an eager mind,” Celestia said in an attempt to appease the upset conduit.

“You don’t say,” Sam’s sarcastic remarks continued, “Sorry, but this ain’t gonna work out.”

“Sam, wait!” Celestia called out, “I know that Twilight seems to have forgotten her true purpose in coming here, which I will correct with her tonight, but please. Give her a chance. There is nopony else that I am more confident in than her for this.”

Sam clicked his tongue a few times in thought. Finally settling on his decision, he grunted in exasperation.

“Fine.”

Celestia breathed out a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Sam. I promise that Twilight will do everything she can to help you. Promise me that you will cooperate with her?”

“Sunny, I make no promises, but if it gets me out of rainbow wonderland, I guess I can at least tone it down.”

“That’s all I ask for,” Celestia smiled warmly.

She departed with a short nod of her head and left Sam to whatever devices he could for the rest of the day.

--o0o--

Sam had been just going through the motions of his day. Go to the dining chamber and eat breakfast. Or more accurately, have a few bites and move the rest of the food around on his plate until the butler came to pick up the trays. He half listened to the purple wonder as she continued to talk her head off about being excited or whatever. Only chiming in with a nod or a grunt whenever he thought she was talking to him. Finally, the two were off to the eastern wing, surprisingly a new part of the castle that Sam had neglected to go see, where Twiggy Sparklebottom-jeans had set up her lab. It was only now that Sam started to really focus, as the room he walked into was far different than what he was used to since his arrival. Of course, this did not fill him with any of the ambient enthusiasm that Twiggy seemed to radiate.

The ‘lab’, if Sam recalled her mentioning from the day before, was something he was not exactly eager to be in. Tables were covered in various pieces of equipment, from bunsen burners, flasks and containers filled with unknown liquid, to books and stacks of blank parchment filled with notes. The walls were littered with various charts and scrap parchment with figures, symbols, and notes of all kinds. Then, there were the other pieces of equipment that Sam could only take crude guesses about their uses. All of this had started to make Sam nervous as he recognized the tools of research that would be implemented.

“So, what do you think, Sam?” Twilight asked.

Apparently, Twizzler Sprinkler had been dictating about what each of the various assemblies around the room were for while Sam was focused on observing them and potential escape routes throughout the room. He ground his teeth to keep his composure. The princess did say that she would talk with the purple wonder, so maybe this was all just a necessity. He needed to stay calm.

“Meh.”

It was all he could manage. It seemed that Twilight was underwhelmed by Sam’s reaction, but pressed on regardless.

“Alright, I understand. Let’s not waste any more time,” the unicorn levitated a quill and parchment to her side, “First thing’s first. Can I get your full name and species name?”

Sam raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

“Just for documentation’s sake,” Twilight swiftly replied, “I’ll need as much information on you and your world to cultivate a final product on the TD Gate.”

“The what now?”

“TD Gate, or Trans-Dimensional Gate,” Twilight began to lecture, “It has been theorized that there are infinite alternate worlds than just our own. Ultimately, if I can figure out the circumstances of your arrival, theoretically, I can create a gateway to your dimension. Now, as I was asking before, can I have your full name and species name?”

The little unicorn looked on with restrained anticipation while Sam debated. There really wasn’t much choice in the matter if he was to get his way home.

“Samuel Reed. Human; sub-species, Conduit.”

The quill beside the unicorn flew across the parchment in a flurry to produce her thoughts.

“Conduit? What does that mean?”

Sam rolled his eyes. Today was going to be a long day. So, after a few more questions were answered, Twilight asked the conduit if he could produce a few examples of his abilities. Sam conjured a few simple strands of wire to his hand to snake and weave between his fingers. He even made a simple stick figure out of the wire to show off a bit. He firmly countered Twilight's inquiries, making it abundantly clear that his abilities were not magic.

“Fascinating,” Twilight whispered in awe as she scratched her thoughts down on her parchment, “What other abilities do you have?”

Sam was getting a little sick of Twilight’s almost clinical analysis. Yet, he had to remember his words to the princess that he would at least try to be cordial. Sam retracted the set of wires that he was using while at the same time, he got a wicked idea in his head that put a devious smirk on his face.

“Alright, Sunlight-”

“Twilight.”

“Whatever. I’ll show you something really cool, but I’ll need a target.”

Twilight cocked her head in confusion. Why would Sam need a ‘target’? Sam just rolled his eyes as the unicorn just eyed him with confusion and pointed out one of the tables in the room.

“How about that? You won’t need that will ya?”

Twilight hesitated. She wanted to learn more about what conduits were capable of, but Sam’s choice of words gave her pause for thought. Reluctantly, her curiosity won out, and she levitated the papers and equipment off the table that Sam pointed out.

“I guess it is worth it for more info, but you make it sound like it’s not going to be usable afterwards.”

‘That would be the point Sparkle-butt.’ “Eh, only if I do this wrong.”

Sam stepped forward to arrange the table to stand up. Using the legs to prop it up and present the top of it to face himself from the middle of the room. The set up provided him with a decent sized target. Imagining the table as a D.U.P. trooper gave him an extra helping of motivation in channeling the energy he needed for what was to come.

“You may want to stand back,” Sam warned with a smirk.

Even though she questioned it, Twilight did as suggested and prepared to observe. Sam eyed the table once more and produced a whip-like appendage from his hand made of wire. With target in sight and his weapon at the ready, Sam focused on his years of training and let loose. A sharp crack and splintering wood was heard throughout the room. Splinters flew everywhere as the table was shattered. Sam heard a light gasp and squeal from behind him, and was rewarded with a surprised and prominently scared tiny, purple unicorn. Unfortunately, the noise had also drawn the attention of the guards from just outside the doors.

“What happened?” one of them asked and they surveyed the room.

Sam smiled at them innocently, “Nothing to see here folks. Just a little demonstration for our avid scientist here. Ain’t that right, Sprinkles?”

Twilight was too busy just eyeing the destroyed table, not really responsive.

“Eh, she’ll come around.”

The guards, already used to Sam’s antics, gave him a warning to tone it down. Sam waved them off, and the guards returned to their posts outside.

Sam returned his gaze to the catatonic unicorn and began his own lecture, “Conduit abilities have varying ranges of combat applications when harnessed correctly. Some have been documented to have enough power to level entire cities. Want to see some more?”

“M-my table,” was all Sparkle-butt could say after seeing such destruction. If you consider a broken table destructive.

“Hey, Nightlight. You ok?”

Sam’s comment and him waving his hand infront of her eyes seemed to snap the unicorn out of her stupor.

With a shake of her head, she turned on the conduit with an angry glare, “It’s ‘Twilight’, and why did you have to destroy my table?!”

Sam held up his hands in front of him defensively, “You’re the one who wanted to see more of my abilities.”

“I thought you were going to lift the table up or something.”

“And what kind of example of my powers would that demonstrate?” Sam asked mockingly.

“I don’t know. Maybe one that wouldn’t require my table being reduced to splinters!”

If only Sam gave enough of a crap to feel sorry. The stress relief was well worth it though. Now, it was time to move on for a another opportunity.

“Anywho, I’ll need another target if we wanna continue.”

Twilight was immediately between Sam and the tables topped with other equipment. If the amusingly threatening glare didn’t give it away, the harsh snort was a dead giveaway. Not to mention, it was hilarious seeing the little pony get so worked up that she actually snorted in what sounded reminiscent to a real horse.

“You are not destroying anymore of my stuff!”

“Relax, Starlight-”

“Twilight!”

“Right. I meant that I was going to just use some wire to build a few frames to use as practice dummies.”

Sam could almost hear the mental snap of the irate pony.

“Then, why did you have to use my table to begin with?”

Sam shrugged nonchalantly, “Seemed easier at the time.”

It was surprising how easy it was to get under this pony’s skin, but Sam had his fun and they needed to move on if he wanted to get her to work on getting him home. So, Sam did as he said and constructed a few wire frame dummies to show off a few of his moves. Another plus to the action was watching the unicorn become visibly more uncomfortable with each demonstration of using his powers to ‘kill’ each dummy. Before long, Sparkle-butt decided she wanted to get some other information that was ‘imperative’ to her research. Sam just thought she was being a little too squeamish. In any case, medical information and a multitude of samples from hair to saliva were taken. Afterwards, Sam was bombarded with question after question about everything that Twilight could think of to ask the conduit.

“Alright,” Sparkle-butt said, looking a little more than haggard after Sam’s less than helpful cooperation throughout the ordeal, “Just one last thing, and we’re through for the day.”

Finally feeling at some amount of ease, Sam leaned back against a table with his arms folded over his chest, “Nice, thought this would have been an all day thing.”

Sam watched as Twilight’s eye twitched, “Well, I was hoping to have a better interview, if somepony didn’t answer half my questions with ‘no comment’.” The little unicorn took a deep, steadying breath. “Anyways, all I need is a blood sample, and I can get this day over with.”

It was at this point that only two words could make it through Sam’s mind, “Wait, what?”

Just as he said that, Sam watched as little miss stick-up-her-ass levitated a syringe out from her bags. If there was any sane reaction that Sam could have come up with for a situation like this, it was lost to him. Instead, he settled for the next best thing and dashed to the other side of the room with wire whips at the ready. The sudden reaction gave the purple wonder a jump almost as lively as Sam’s.

“Sam, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

Sam put on a hysterical expression as he spoke, “Me? Just peachy, just thought I’d hang out over here. You know, change of a scenery and all that. Also, quick question. Why the hell do you have that?”

The accusatory finger fell on the floating needle beside the unicorn. Twilight looked between the empty syringe and the nervous looking conduit before quirking an eyebrow.

“Uh, how else am I supposed to get a blood sample?”

“Wow, great question. Hmm, let me think here. Oh yeah, how about you don’t get one.”

Twilight sighed in exasperation, “Sam, enough if this. I am tired and just need to do this to get wrap up here and begin my studies.”

Each of Twilight’s hoofsteps were matched by an equal backpedalling step by Sam.

“Get that thing any closer to me and being a little tired will be the least of your problems.”

Twilight stopped as she reconsidered her position. The wire tendrils from Sam’s hands seemed to twitch in anticipation, like a cobra ready to strike. She had seen what they were capable of, but Sam’s expression was caught between restrained fear and something else. Then, a little wicked idea wormed its way into the Twilight’s mind.

“Ahh, is the big, strong conduit afraid of a little needle?” Twilight mockingly called out.

She took another step forward while Sam matched it with another step back.

“Don’t you dare.”

Twilight giggled innocently, “It’s okay. I’ll give you a lollipop after to make you feel better.”

“I’m warning you, Twilight. Back off.”

‘Oh, so now you remember my name,’ Twilight scoffed mentally.

She raised the syringe over her and began to bring it even closer to cornered conduit. Sam, now rooted in place, felt like a coil spring ready to break under its own tension.

“Take one more step, and you’ll regret it, Sparkle!”

Twilight huffed, “Oh, would you just calm down and shut up? This will only take a minute.”

*Fwip-Crack*

Before she even realized it, Twilight was lying against the floor. Her right cheek burned and warm liquid could be felt running down her face. The shock she felt as she looked into Sam’s fury-filled eyes only now registering. The two guards from outside the room burst through the door with weapons at the ready.

“Ms. Sparkle, Mr. Reed, is everything alright?”

Both of them gasped upon inspecting the scene before them.

“You!” one of the guards turned on Sam, “What have you done?!”

The other guard carefully stepped around the broken pieces of a syringe on the floor. Twilight only just noticed the glass shards of the device and the slight tinges of red amongst some of the pieces.

“Ms. Sparkle, your cheek,” the guard said as he examined the downed unicorn.

Said unicorn’s hoof found the spot on her face that burned with pain, and was surprised when it came back bloody. It only took a few more moments for Twilight to connect the dots and remember how she came to be injured. It all happened so fast that she thought it wasn’t even real. The wire whip in Sam’s hand flew at her and snapped the syringe out of her magic, shattering it in the process. The reaction was so sudden that Twilight tripped backwards, but not before getting a few pieces of the syringe to catch the side of her face and leaving some nasty looking gashes.

“Answer me, human!”

The shout drew Twilight’s attention back over to where Sam and the other guard were having a stand off.

Sam clenched his fists as he spoke through gritted teeth, “What I did was simply defend myself.”

The guard didn’t seem to like that answer and turned his spear on the conduit. Sam snorted, unafraid of the threat directed toward him.

“Sam, w-why? Why did you lash out at me?” Twilight tried to sound mad, although her trembling made her trip over her words.

Sam’s hate filled eyes fell on her again. His gaze made the unicron flinch. Never had she seen such anger in one pony in her lifetime.

“Why?!” Sam repeated the question, “Maybe I don’t like being poked full of holes! Maybe I’m not so comfortable with a research lab like this! Maybe I even have a problem with someone treating me like I’m some kind of science experiment! I don’t give a damn what your excuses are, but you better listen up. I am not your goddamn labrat!”

Sam last statement was punctuated by Sam storming off toward the door. Though not before the one guard that had his spear trained on him stepped in his path.

“Halt! Stay where you are,” the zealous guard commanded.

Sam merely flipped him off and shot a few wires out to the doorframe to slingshot past him and escape.